by Karen Hardell, CPA

“A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.”
 – Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own

Maya Angelou famously rented a hotel room whenever she was working on a project so that she could go there every day to be alone and focus on her writing.  Renting space outside your home may be a luxury beyond your budget, but if you have a dedicated writing space in your home, you could be entitled to the home office income tax deduction. The IRS defines a home office for this purpose as an area used regularly and exclusively for your business. Let’s look at each of these requirements in reverse order.

First, you must be operating a business. Which means you are carrying on an activity in a business-like manner, and that you are trying to make a profit from said activity. The IRS calls that a “profit motive.” 

Second, the area must be used exclusively for your business. Technically, that means not your living room couch. Or your dining room table. It also shouldn’t be the space where you work for your day job, or play video games, or lift weights, for example.

There is an exception to the exclusivity rule for rooms that are used to store inventory. Stack those boxes of print books in the same room with your treadmill, and now your home gym could qualify as long as it meets the third requirement, which is regular use.

What is regular use? It helps to think about all of the activities of your business. As an author, your business could involve writing, marketing, accounting, planning, and research, and many other activities. You do not have to do all of these things all of the time in your home office. You do need to do some of these or other business activities in that space, on a regular basis. 

What about Maya Angelou? She wrote in a hotel room. You may write in a coffee shop. That alone does not disqualify Ms. Angelou or you from taking the home office deduction if you meet the requirements.

Do you have an area in your home used regularly and exclusively for your writing business?

About Karen Hardell:
Karen Hardell writes mysteries as K. L. Hardell. In real life, she’s a CPA with a thriving tax and accounting practice in Florida. Find more tax tips at A Better Ledger on Substack.

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